


I'm clinging to (the promise of a lifetime)

by tinycutefauna



Series: One Piece One Shots [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Alternate Marineford Events, Fix-It, Gen, Marineford Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24421834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinycutefauna/pseuds/tinycutefauna
Summary: A snippet of ASL recovery after AU Marineford-The first thing that registered in Sabo’s mind when he regained consciousness was just how heavy he felt. He was so overcome with exhaustion that he couldn’t even move. He felt swelteringly hot and he could barely breathe due to all the pressure. The second thing that registered was that actually, part of that heaviness that was keeping him from being able to move was the two warm bodies that were pressing him down into the floor. And the realisation of exactly who was making him feel like he was being crushed by an elephant made him relax so completely that it felt like he had gone boneless.He was finally with his brothers again.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Series: One Piece One Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898179
Comments: 17
Kudos: 225





	I'm clinging to (the promise of a lifetime)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fizzy_P0p](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fizzy_P0p/gifts).



> Finally got around to posting this ^^"  
> This is (was?) my present for Fizz that was originally meant to be part of a Christmas gift exchange but took me til uhhh February? March? to finish which was,,,, whoops
> 
> Anyway, love you Fizzy! Thanks for being awesome! Also, I know the song by Kutless that I used for the title doesn't actually match the story itself but I really liked the phrase

The first thing that registered in Sabo’s mind when he regained consciousness was just how heavy he felt. He was so overcome with exhaustion that he couldn’t even move. He felt swelteringly hot and he could barely breathe due to all the pressure. The second thing that registered was that actually, part of that heaviness that was keeping him from being able to move was the two warm bodies that were pressing him down into the floor. And the realisation of exactly who was making him feel like he was being crushed by an elephant made him relax so completely that it felt like he had gone boneless.

He was finally with his brothers again.

It was disconcerting and terrifying to think about how, just a handful of days ago, he hadn’t even remembered his bond with his brothers - the two people who meant  _ the world _ to him. He didn’t want to contemplate how much worse things would have been if his memory hadn’t returned to him when it did. And had he been a moment too late on the battlefield at Marineford at that time ... despite everything, he shuddered fully. The idea that he may have lost one or both of his precious brothers before he was even able to reunite with them was more awful than anything he had ever gone through.

And, judging from the moving limbs above him, it seemed as if that shudder had woken one of them up. Sabo extended his observation haki to see that it was Luffy who had now regained consciousness. That made sense, of course, since, despite the fact that Luffy had definitely been through some seriously horrific things in these last few days (he hadn’t said anything but Sabo knew nobody broke in and out of Impel Down without suffering agreat deal of pain), Sabo had heard that Ace had travelled for a long time, fought singlehandedly with Blackbeard, survived prison and whatever torture the Marines would have inflicted upon him (Sabo was intimately aware of what dehydration and starvation looked like and it was obvious on his brother despite how long it had been since Sabo had seen him last), battled alongside his family (and against it too - Sabo’s heart clenched at the memory of Monkey D. Garp - of his grandfather - facing them off on that horrid battlefield) and then dealt with the heavy blow of losing the man he called his Pops (and that vision of Whitebeard standing proudly on the battlefield despite dying still haunted Sabo).

“Oi, Sabo, you’re thinking way too much! We gotta go eat!”

A tired but bright voice broke through Sabo’s thoughts and he smiled up at his younger brother who had now shoved his face in front of him and was pouting at him. He had missed Luffy so much that his heart swelled up with love at his brother making a nuisance of himself. He responded just as tiredly, “Hey Luffy, sorry about that. I’ll get you some food if you can get yourself and Ace off of me.”

Luffy’s face brightened in that wonderfully familiar way and he grinned at Sabo in that impossibly wide way of his before his face disappeared from Sabo’s limited view and Sabo felt Luffy disentangling his rubbery limbs from around him and Ace. Remembering how they had always used to do this exact same thing made tears burn the back of Sabo’s eyes. There was so much that he had missed, there was so much time that he had spent without his brothers, there was so much that he had lost that it all overwhelmed Sabo and he had to fight back the urge to cry again.

Luffy’s hands gently wiping away at his face made Sabo realise that he had failed to stop himself from crying, “Hey, Sabo! Don’t cry! We’re all together again!”

Sabo mustered up a watery smile to reassure Luffy who was staring at him worriedly (he could barely reconcile himself with the fact that he had brothers, let alone two who cared about him). He didn’t remember his little brother being able to read him that well nor him being that gentle but he guessed he really had missed a lot in those years he had spent with the Revolutionaries. After all, a decade changed people. That thought, unfortunately, had the effect of just increasing the flow of his tears. He and his brothers had been apart for so long ...

“Don’t worry, Luffy, I’m just happy.” He told his little brother, who looked at him with suspicion (Luffy really had gotten even better at reading people, huh?).

Before he could try to defend himself further, Sabo’s face exploded in pain as he got punched to the other side of the room and into a wall, denting it badly. Ah, whoops, he'd kinda missed Ace waking up because he'd been so lost in his thoughts. Oh well.

"WHAT THE FUCK SABO?!!! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN THESE LAST TEN YEARS???!!! I'M GONNA MURDER YOU, YOU BASTARD!!! WE THOUGHT YOU DIED!!!!"

Now, the thing was: Ace yelling at him was something Sabo had expected, Ace punching him was something Sabo had expected, Ace threatening to kill him was something Sabo had expected. What he had not expected were the very real tears that were pouring down Ace's face. His heart broke at the sight of them and it almost brought  _ him  _ back to tears again.

He picked himself up and adjusted his clothes, before holding up his hands placatingly, "Hold on, Ace, I can explain." The idiot was going to hurt himself like this, his wounds had already opened themselves (and he was bleeding too).

"YOU CAN EXPLAIN WHY YOU ABANDONED US FOR ALL THESE YEARS??? WHY YOU ONLY SHOWED UP AT MARINEFORD??? WHY YOU LET US BELIEVE YOU WERE DEAD??!!!" Ace roared back at him.

Sabo was really grateful to Luffy who had gripped Ace's arm to prevent him from flying at him again. And he was also grateful for the fact that he'd been able to explain things to Luffy before they had collapsed into sleep next Ace (who had passed out from the pain, shock and dehydration) so that Luffy was able to help him calm Ace down now. Looked like he hadn't changed that much since they'd last seen each other (was it bad that Sabo was grateful for that?).

"Yes, I can explain all of that, if you'll just calm down and listen." Sabo responded calmly, trying not to eye the flames that had erupted around Ace. He was certain that he wasn't hurting Luffy with them but the heat burned and he wasn't sure if Trafalgar's ship could handle it (and if he was uneasy because it reminded him of what had happened to his ship all those years ago ... well, nobody else needed to know).

Unfortunately, before Ace could put in any effort himself to calm down, his body did it for him as he staggered and almost fell down, with his flames dying out completely. He had pushed himself too hard for someone who had just recently received a life-threatening injury on top of already being unwell.

Sabo rushed to him as Luffy grabbed Ace and pushed him back onto the bed the three had been using before the whole fiasco. But before he could get too close, Ace looked up and glared at him, clearly indicating Sabo wasn't forgiven just yet.

And so, Sabo explained. How he had tried to escape the dreadful rotting kingdom they had grown up in and been shot at. How he had awoken many hours later on an unknown ship with unknown people and no memories. How he had been taken in by the Revolutionaries and decided to join them because, despite remembering nothing, he knew that he hated the nobles and Celestial Dragons. How he had dealt with burn scars and a new style of living. How he had been fine with all of that until he read the newspaper about Ace being executed and had fainted in shock as his memories all returned to him.

How he had been forced awake by Dragon after his friends Koala and Hack had been scared by his sudden coma. How he had rushed to save Ace as soon as he could - but heard about Luffy breaking into Impel Down before he could manage it. How he had changed his route to Marineford instead on the off chance that Luffy would've failed. How he had still been so delayed that he had arrived after Lufffy at Marineford and how he had fought to get to Ace while remaining hidden. How he had been temporarily knocked out by Luffy's haki (how he was so proud of his little brother) but then recovered with just enough time to be able to use his observation haki to see how Ace would save Luffy from Akainu and knock them both out of the way towards safety.

After that, Akainu had come after them as Ace stared at him in shock and fainted and Luffy cried and Jinbe had to save them, but wasn't able to prevent the three of them getting injured alongside himself. How Trafalgar Law had shown up and randomly chosen to save them. How they had ended up on the submarine with Ace still passed out and Luffy still clingy and crying so he had explained everything to Luffy before the two of them also fell asleep (he carefully left out the part where he had been crying then as well but Luffy didn't speak up about it and Ace probably figured it out anyway).

Sabo talked and explained and cried until his voice became rough and tired and hoarse but he kept going until he was finished. It was a small sacrifice to make for what he hoped was Ace's forgiveness. And so, when he finished, he fell on his knees and cried some more.

"I'm sorry, Ace. I promised we would always be brothers. I'm sorry I couldn't keep that promise."

But it seemed that Ace didn't care anymore as two sets of hands dragged Sabo off the floor and onto the bed that Luffy and Ace were on. And as the three of them sobbed (with Ace crying that it didn't matter, he was an idiot to think that they had ever stopped being brothers), Sabo clung to his brothers and thought that this time, he would definitely keep his promise. He was going fulfil his lifetime's promise of always being the big brother of Ace and Luffy, regardless of how the world revolted against them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Would really appreciate any kudos/comment you'd like to leave <3
> 
> You can talk to me on my Tumblr or Twitter @tinycutefauna!


End file.
